Roland Gröger runs for victory at the World Championships in Perth 2016 (Photo A.H)
Berlin, 31.07. to 01.08.2020, Summer Sports Festival with Participation of Masters Athletes
Participant Roland Gröger (M55): “It is a great pleasure to be able to compete in competitions again. For me as a sprinter, that is simply the icing on the cake.”
Masters athletes between 35 and 80 years of age enjoyed the opportunity to participate in the “very well organized sports festival” in Berlin Spandau, as Roland Gröger classified the sports festival.
With Roland Gröger, a world record holder and diverse German age group record holder took part in the summer sports festival. He currently owns the M50 indoor (51.73) and (53.04) outdoor world records in the 400m. His 55.80 from Spandau (55.29 on 3.7. in Charlottenburg) is already quite close to Guido Müller’s M55 European record of 53.04, although Roland himself estimates that he is still a long way from the record time.
In an interview with Alfred Hermes, Roland Gröger expressed his relief that, in view of the corona pandemic, competitions can finally take place again under almost normal conditions – of course in compliance with sensible hygiene rules.
Roland Gröger:
It was a very well organized sports festival. For the first time this year all the tracks were occupied outside. That is of course performance-enhancing for us sprinters. Before that I have already participated in three sports festivals with even stricter rules. Especially on the stadium circuit, a lot of competitions are still needed to develop the right racing feeling, especially since I already had a longer injury break in 2018. It is a great pleasure to be able to compete again. For me as a sprinter this is just salt in the soup. The last months I have been training a lot in the garden, in the park and in the forest, of course a little less than usual. This year I would like to confirm my performance from last year and hope to improve again next year. The highlight for me this year will be the National Championships in Austria, where I will be allowed to start as a guest.
Results of the VfV summer sports festival on 31.07./01.08.2020 in Berlin-Spandau:
https://ladv.de/ergebnisse/54358/2.-VfV-Sommersportfest-Ergebnisliste-korrigiert-Berlin-Spandau-2020.htm
A.H